Reliever Goose Gossage fell 21 votes and less than five percentage points short of making the Hall of Fame in balloting announced Tuesday, and while he said he was disappointed, he said the urgency to be enshrined is gone. "My mom died in September and the only urgency was for her to see me get into the Hall of Fame," Gossage said Tuesday.

No more dilly-dallying. They want the baseball Hall of Fame ballot and they want it now, which means the Mark McGwire decision must be made immediately, without further delay or waffling or deliberation.

As one of 575 voting members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), I don't know how I'll vote, says Mel Antonen. If I don't vote for McGwire, I would be saying Big Mac used steroids without the smoking-gun evidence and holding him accountable for a baseball culture that all but encouraged steroids. If I say yes, then it means I wasn't bothered by his nebulous testimony in the U.S. House in March 2005.

As one of 575 voting members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), I don't know how I'll vote, says Mel Antonen. If I don't vote for McGwire, I would be saying Big Mac used steroids without the smoking-gun evidence and holding him accountable for a baseball culture that all but encouraged steroids. If I say yes, then it means I wasn't bothered by his nebulous testimony in the U.S. House in March 2005.

Mark McGwire, Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. headline the first-time candidates on the 2007 baseball writers' Hall of Fame ballot released Monday. The voting is sure to spark debate on Big Mac's place in history as the steroid era comes under renewed scrutiny. His former teammate, Jose Canseco, is also on the ballot for the first time.

There's a Bob Dylan tune called When I Paint My Masterpiece. Detroit pitcher Kenny Rogers is following Dylan's muse. With the plate his canvas, Rogers dabbled on the corners with his offspeed pitches and sprayed around his fastball, rarely giving the St. Louis Cardinals anything decent to hit.

Minnesota Twins starter Johan Santana, by skipping his final start of the season Sunday to prepare for the playoffs, virtually guarantees that baseball will be without a 20-game winner in a full season for the first time in the modern era. There has been at least one 20-game winner every year but the work-stoppage seasons of 1981, 1994 and 1995.